 Evolution of a quantum harmonic oscillator coupled to a minimal thermal environmentA. Vidiella-Barranco Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2016, vol. 459, issue C, 78-85 Abstract: In this paper it is studied the influence of a minimal thermal environment on the dynamics of a quantum harmonic oscillator (labelled A), prepared in a coherent state. The environment itself consists of a second oscillator (labelled B), initially in a thermal state. Two types of interaction Hamiltonians are considered, and the time-evolution of the reduced density operator of oscillator A is compared to the one obtained from the usual master equation approach, i.e., assuming that oscillator A is coupled to a large reservoir. An analysis of the linear entropy evolution of oscillator A shows that simplified models may be able to describe important features related to the phenomenon of decoherence, such as the rapid growth of the linear entropy, as well as its dependence on the effective temperature of the environment. Keywords: Quantum oscillator; Coherent states; Decoherence; Entropy (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:459:y:2016:i:c:p:78-85 DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2016.04.033 Access Statistics for this article Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications is currently edited by K. A. Dawson, J. O. Indekeu, H.E. Stanley and C. Tsallis More articles in Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications from Elsevier |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.